Threaded fasteners have long been used to join two or more components. It has been found advantageous to easily prelocate a threaded fastener and mate parts prior to torque tightening the fastener into location by rotating along a thread helix. This is particularly true with assemblies where the orientation and weight of the mating parts require that the parts be held in place while a driving tool is retrieved and placed in location to engage the fastener for tightening the fastener in place. This prelocation is also particularly useful for self-threading fasteners where the mating receptacle is initially unthreaded.
Previous snap in fasteners have been overly complicated and added unacceptable costs to fasteners when used in high volume during an assembly line operation. Furthermore, previous retention devices placed onto a distal threaded end of a fastener often separated from the fastener during shipping and before the fastener was installed in place.
What is needed is a low cost expeditiously manufactured threaded fastener with a retainer that can be pushed into position with a low entry force and be able to resist a much higher exiting or pulling force to temporarily hold two mating parts together. What is also needed is a retainer that resists separation from the fastener.